Noble Corporation Announces Sale of Two Jackups for $79 million

ZUG, Switzerland, Dec. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE) today reported that it has entered into two separate Definitive Agreements for the sale of two standard jackup drilling units. The first agreement, for the 300-foot water depth capable jackup Noble Lewis Dugger, is with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goimar S.A. de C.V., a private company in Mexico that owns and operates supply vessels, platform drilling rigs and jackups. This unit is being sold for $61 million and the closing is expected to occur in early 2013 after the unit has completed its contract with the current customer, PEMEX.

The second agreement is for the sale of the 150-foot water depth capable Noble Don Walkerto Axxis Petroconsultants Limited, a private company in Nigeria that owns and operates drilling units. The unit has been cold-stacked in Cameroon since 2009. The purchase price is $18 million, and the closing is expected in early 2013. Both transactions are subject to customary closing conditions.

About Noble Corporation

Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 79 offshore drilling units (including five ultra-deepwater rigs and six jackup drilling rigs currently under construction), located worldwide, including in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, Brazil, the North Sea, the Mediterranean, West Africa, the Middle East, India and the Asian Pacific. Noble's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NE." Additional information on Noble Corporation is available on the Company's Web site at http://www.noblecorp.com.

Statements regarding the consummation, timing, effects and proceeds of the sales, as well as any other statements that are not historical facts in this release, are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These include but are not limited to satisfaction of closing conditions, operating hazards and delays, risks associated with operations outside of the U.S., actions by customers and other third parties, legislation and regulations affecting drilling operations, factors affecting the level of activity in the oil and gas industry, supply and demand of drilling rigs, factors affecting the duration of contracts, delays in the construction of newbuilds, hurricanes and other weather conditions, the future price of oil and gas and other factors detailed in the Company's most recent Form 10-K, Form 10-Q's and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated.